


Jaborandi

by Nuideas



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Animals Included, Bromance, First Season, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Natives Are Restless, Peril, Some Humor, Tags Are Fun, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28207722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuideas/pseuds/Nuideas
Summary: What began as a routine reconnaissance mission through the Brazilian jungle has become a quest for survival. An injured Kid Flash and a powerless Superboy struggle against time in order to save Robin from a deadly poison. What's that they say about the jungle? Oh, yeah, "Everything in it is out to kill you!"
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	1. From Bad to Worse

It was supposed to be covert mission, but weren't they all? In and out, they were told, but since when has it ever been that simple? Wally didn't know if it was just bad luck or if they were cursed - or maybe they just needed to learn to be less impulsive. He kind of thought that might be the case with him. He glanced over at Superboy struggling to pull off the inhibitor collar around his neck and thought that it might be the case for Conner as well.

For Kid, this mission had started out as an adventure. He had never been to the tropical rainforests of Brazil before. Due to the remoteness of their target, they had been forced to hike in. Wally could have managed to get in and out twelve minutes, start to finish, except his expertise didn't include computers. Even Conner might have slogged the distance in a day, but again, his job was more about being the muscle than handling the tricky, delicate work of hacking and espionage. Wally looked to his other side at where Robin sat with his arms resting on his knees. The disgusted look on his friend's face spoke volumes. Although, it might have taken the younger boy a few days to accomplish the task, he would have managed it without getting caught – _if_ it weren't for the lack of subtlety of his more impulsive teammates.

Conner roared angrily, slamming his fists onto the concrete floor. With the inhibitor collar activated, he barely disturbed the dust. The clone blew out his breath, his chains rattling as he leaned back against the wall.

Robin glanced over at Wally with concern. "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

Wally stretched out his leg carefully in front of him. One couldn't tell it by looking at it, but he had managed to break several bones in his foot and severely sprained his ankle. He would have taken off his boot to check it out had Robin not warned him that he would never get it back on. At the moment, it felt like his foot was about to burst out of the boot on its own, but the footwear provided the support he needed to keep the worst of the pain in check. Besides, if they hoped to escape, he would need the protection it provided him during the hike back to civilization.

One did not hike in a tropical rainforest barefoot if one is not a native . . . And maybe not even then.

What was it people said about the rainforest? Oh yeah - everything in it was out to kill you - and it _had_ almost succeeded.

Although, if the vines that he had tripped over hadn't been capable of movement, Wally might have managed to avoid them. The rumors that had Bats sending the three members of the Young Justice team into the wilds of the Amazonian rainforest had talked about a facility reportedly creating weapons for bioterrorism. Too bad those rumors didn't include anything about Poison Ivy being on the company payroll.

 _Surprise_!

Easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart, Poison Ivy was facilitating the growth of plants to aid in the biological soup that the scientists were designing for their employers, people whose plans included the depopulation the planet. Like Anthrax and Influenza weren't bad enough on their own, these guys were adding to the already nasty effects of the diseases certain specialized poisons into the genetic mix meant to create a super-virulent death-strain was capable of spreading person-to-person in an aerosol form. Ivy had tried to describe the spread of the new biological weapon to them after their capture, explaining it as a type of pollination but, whatever . . . Although, Wally liked science, biology wasn't his subject of choice. What he took away from it was this was that the stuff would kill you _and_ the people over in the next town, taking anywhere from a few hours to a few days to do the deed. Not enough time for disaster teams to reverse engineer a cure before thousands - heck, hundreds of thousands - would die.

"Kid?"

"Don't talk to me," Wally barked at him. "This is all my fault."

"How do you get that?" Robin gaped at him.

" _You_ didn't get caught," Wally groused. " _I_ did. If I hadn't screwed up my foot, you wouldn't have had to give yourself up."

Conner grunted. "You weren't the only one to get caught, you know. Poison Ivy's vines entangled me faster than I could break them. She just walked up to me, snapping this damned collar on me like I was a dog, and there wasn't a damned thing I could do to stop her!" His voice, and temper, rose as he spoke.

Superboy sharing the blame didn't make Kid Flash feel any better about their current predicament. Sighing, Conner rested his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. There were cracks in it, put there by encroaching plants. Rain poured into their cell in streams. The three of them had sat in the damp, uncomfortable cell all night and all morning without seeing anyone but one lone guard who had thrown them chunks of stale flatbread. Ivy didn't even consider them dangerous enough to warrant more than one guard, apparently. Why would she when both Kid Flash and Superboy had been put out of commission with such ease?

Robin and Conner had given most of their food to Kid in hopes that the extra calories would stimulate his metabolism into healing him faster, but it hadn't been enough to accomplish that goal. In fact, Wally's stomach was growling again. He looked down at his boot, biting his lip. Even should the bones knit, he had the unpleasant task once they were home of having them broken again and reset, at least that is, if he wanted to be able to run without a limp for the rest of his life.

"I bet Superman wouldn't have gotten caught," Conner muttered in frustration.

Robin frowned at his friends' defeatist tone. "No, you're right. Superman would have caught Ivy, but then, she would have kissed him and made him her slave."

Conner frowned back. "What?"

"It's happened before," Robin explained to them. "Her lips are poison. She can kill you with a kiss, or in your case, Supey, enslave you to her will. Superman nearly killed Batman the first time she tried it on him."

Wally thought about that. "So, why didn't she just enslave Superboy, then? Why did she choose to use the collar?"

Robin shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she thought . . ."

"Maybe _she thought_ she preferred men to little boys," Ivy interrupted, her voice echoing in the barren room.

Wally's mouth dropped open as he gaped. He couldn't help it. Poison Ivy was amazingly beautiful while he was fifteen and hormonal. So what if her skin was tinged a pale, mint-green, the super-villainess was built like a Greek goddess. She had vibrant red hair falling over her shoulders in luxurious waves and stood before them clothed in nothing but a few strategically-placed leaves.

 _Back in the States_ , Wally thought dreamily, _It would be autumn at home right now_. _Falling leaves_ . . . He sighed. _Mother Nature has never looked so good_.

"I was feeling a little bored, children," she said lightly, "so, I thought we might play a game."

"Not interested," Robin snapped, scowling.

Wally closed his mouth abruptly as reality intruded upon his fantasy. He had a feeling that Poison Ivy's idea of games and _his_ idea of games weren't the same thing.

Kneeling beside the Boy Wonder, Ivy pouted.

"Don't be like Bats," she cooed. "He's got that stick shoved so far up his . . . Well, let's just say, he needs to learn how to relax and have a little fun." Ivy ran a hand through Robin's hair as she whispered in his ear seductively. "I bet _you_ know how to have fun, don't you, little bird?"

Her other hand played with the fastenings on the boy's tunic, unhooking the top two as her fingers walked their way across his exposed chest. Robin jerked himself away from her as far as his chains would allow.

Poison Ivy stood up then, laughing at the young hero's blush. Rolling her eyes, she waved a hand . "Oh, don't worry, Boy Wonder. While I might rob the occasional bank, I _don't_ rob cradles."

Wally's mouth went dry as she stepped in front of him next. She stared down at his foot. It wasn't difficult to tell that it was injured, what with the way the boot strained around the swollen appendage. She set one delicate foot on the toe of his boot, smiling at him. Wally licked his lips nervously. What was she going to do? Women confused the hell out of him during the normal course of things. Poison Ivy, however, was in a league of her own.

"Does it hurt?" she asked him. "I suppose I could kiss it, make it all better," she offered innocently.

While Wally's head spun at the idea, Robin sputtered, "Only if he wants gangrene."

Smirking at the younger boy, Ivy suddenly pushed on Wally's foot, forcing it sideways. A sharp, grinding pain shot up his leg causing Wally to shriek. Conner jerked on his chains, his muscles straining to reach their tormentor.

"Leave him alone!" Superboy shouted angrily.

"Hmm," Ivy hummed as she moved toward the clone. "Yummy. What I wouldn't do to have your - daddy? - under my green thumb again. The big blue and red _is_ your daddy, isn't he?"

Superboy's face flushed. Superman had yet to acknowledge Conner as his clone let alone as something as intimate as his son.

"What do you think?" she asked the hot-tempered youth. "Do you think daddy would rush to rescue you if I were to put you under my spell? What would he give me, I wonder, to get you back?"

The clone's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Not a damned thing."

One crimson eyebrow rose in patent disbelief. "Nothing? Not even for the apple of his eye? Somehow, I doubt that very much."

Conner snorted. "Hardly. Shows how little you know, plant girl."

Ivy shrugged her shoulders, unconcerned, as she turned as though to leave. Her hips swaying alluringly as she walked back to the cell door. Wally swallowed audibly. It was almost enough to make him forget the pain in his foot - almost, but not quite. His raging hormones had dropped down to a simmer when she had twisted his foot. The pain had been enough to activate his sense of self-preservation, reminding the speedster that Poison Ivy was exactly that - Pure poison.

"Okay, kiddies, here's what I propose," She said, smiling at them. "I'm going to let you go."

"What?" Conner looked confused.

Wally's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?"

"What's the catch?" Robin frowned at her, ever suspicious. He knew her best.

"No catch," she promised but then laughed again. "Oh, okay, maybe just one little catch. I'm going to let you all go," she repeated. "You can run away back to your mentors and _parents_ ," she glinted at Superboy. "I won't do anything to stop you. But remember, the rainforest is a very hazardous place, even without my influence. If the three of you can make it out of here alive, then your lives are my gift to you. Go in peace."

"And if not?" Robin asked.

"Why then, you'll die, of course." Ivy sputtered at the obvious. Sighing heavily, she said, "Look, kiddies, I'm letting you go. If you live, good for you. If you die, it's no skin off my nose but you'll do it under _my_ conditions."

"Which are?" Conner asked, glaring.

"No utility belts." Ivy glanced at Robin as she ticked each condition off on her fingers. "No gloves and no boots."

"Kid Flash's foot is broken!" Robin exclaimed. "He wouldn't stand a chance out in the jungle without his boots."

"Not my problem." Pursing her lips, she regarded Superboy next. "The collars stay put," she told him. "I have plenty more stashed away. Consider them a present in honor of your visit. If you make it out of here alive, you will do so _without_ the benefit of your powers."

Robin was shaking his head. "Fine. I'm willing to go without my boots but Kid Flash keeps his. He's already at a disadvantage being injured."

"What makes you think this is a negotiation?" Ivy sneered at the youngest member of their group.

"Everything is a negotiation," Robin countered. "What would you want in order to let Kid keep his boots?"

Wally looked at Robin in alarm. "Rob, no, it's okay. I can do this without my boots."

Robin didn't bother glancing in Wally's direction; his eyes remained on the woman in front of him. "Name it, Ivy."

"You don't have anything left to negotiate with, baby bird." Even as she said this, Ivy was tapping her finger on her chin in thought. "However," she added with a sly smile, "I suppose we could up the ante a bit, make the game more interesting."

"Rob, stop! What are you doing?" Wally hissed.

"KF, you _need_ those boots." Robin insisted.

"I'm a fast healer," he reminded his friend. "I'll probably be back to normal in the time it takes for us to get back to town." _Although, not without extra calories_ , something Wally preferred to keep to himself. Not that it mattered. Robin and Conner were already well aware of this particular fact about speedsters.

"Alright, it's a deal. I will even go so far as to let _all_ of you to keep your boots," Ivy stated magnanimously. "And in exchange for my generosity, you must go out and find a plant."

"Why?" Conner asked, suspicious. "What's so special about this plant?"

Ivy smiled. "Trust me. You're going to _want_ to find this plant."

"Trust you?" Wally sputtered incredulously.

"What plant?" Robin asked, pragmatic as always. "What does it do?"

"The natives call it jaborandi," Ivy informed them. "It is a shrubby kind of tree that has star-shaped fruit and large, feathery leaves. You can find it in the jungle if you search hard enough for it."

"You've never said why you wanted it. What do you need the plant for?" Conner asked. He had obviously had his fill of Poison Ivy's creepy plants to last him a lifetime.

"Silly boy. _I_ don't need it. _You_ do becaaauuuse . . ." she sang out happily. Raising her hand to her lips, she appeared to blow a kiss at Robin. There was a whisper of a sound -Pfft! 

Suddenly, Robin slapped a hand over his collarbone with a hiss. Tugging, he pulled free a tiny dart. He gaped at it in horror for a few seconds before he dropped it onto the floor from limp fingers.

"Rob," Wally yelped.

"What did you do to him?" Conner snarled. He yanked at his chains futilely.

Smirking, Ivy held up a tiny blowgun in her fingers for the three to see. " _Because_ ," she continued, "jaborandi contains the antidote to belladonna poisoning which is also known as the lovely and quite _deadly_ nightshade."


	2. The Search Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With no way to reach civilization in time, the team, injured and powerless, begins the journey to locate the jaborandi plant before Robin falls victim to Ivy's belladonna poison.

It was just past noon when they left the compound behind with Kid Flash between them. Wally tried to lean more on Superboy because, despite his loss of powers, Conner was still the strongest of the three of them. Besides, Robin needed to conserve his strength. Wally worried that too much exertion might push the poison through his system faster, bringing the symptoms on sooner.

Had Superboy not had the inhibitor collar or Kid Flash a broken foot, either one of them could have carried the younger boy. Wally could have had him back in town at the nearest hospital in a half an hour - tops - but, as it was, even poisoned, Robin was making better time through the jungle than he was.

"We need to look for something to use as a crutch," Robin was saying, thinking ahead.

" _Argh_! This is ridiculous," Wally complained. "If my foot wasn't broken . . ."

"But it is, Walls. Look, we don't have time to play the 'what if' game. We have to concentrate on how we're going to get ourselves out of here."

"I could carry him faster than he can hobble with a crutch," Conner reminded them.

Robin didn't respond to this, but Wally could fill in the words the younger boy was unwilling to say. Wally needed a crutch because, if they couldn't find the plant Poison Ivy had spoken of, Conner would be too busy carrying Robin to help Wally. Frowning, he tried to recall what little he knew about belladonna poisoning. Dry mouth, double vision, irritability . . . What else? Eventually death, of course, but there were other symptoms that occurred before the victim succumbed to the poison.

“So, Conner, did those genomorph tutors you had in Cadmus manage to upload any information into your head about the cure for belladonna poisoning?”

Conner’s gaze turned inward as he searched his memories. After a moment, he shook his head. “I only know first aid basics, nothing so specific about poisons. Maybe if you guys hadn’t rescued me when you did . . . I guess I still have some gaps in my education.”

“Don’t feel bad about it, Supey. Poisons aren’t part of the normal high school curriculum,” Robin told him.

"What do you know about belladonna, Rob?" Wally asked.

"I know enough," Robin muttered grim-faced.

Wally suspected Rob knew more than he was willing to admit. Batman was always quizzing him on stuff like this. Refusing to look at the speedster, Robin continued the search for a suitable crutch for the speedster but options for that were slim.

The canopy overhead meant that the ground didn't have much in the way of debris. Tree branches that might have proven useful were all high above them, seeking out the sun. Although the area was thick with shade-loving vegetation like hostas and ferns, and the ground beneath littered with dead leaves, mossy rocks, and roots, there was nothing that was strong enough to support Kid’s weight. Where the sun’s rays managed to hit the ground, shoots of new tree growth sprouted, but they were spindly and weak. Woody hanging vines were unhelpful as well.

It had taken them two days to hike in and that was when they were all healthy. But Ivy had taken their commlinks and the guards had confiscated everything else when they’d been searched, so they had neither a map nor a compass to point them in the right direction. The trio simply started walking away from the compound in what they hoped was the general direction from which they had come.

The bleak reality of their situation sent slivers of fear coursing through Wally’s veins. Moving at this speed would take three times longer to get back to civilization and help. There was simply no way Robin could make it back without that plant.

Glancing at the surrounding vegetation, he saw nothing resembling the plant that Ivy had described. It grew in the jungle and the rainforest wouldn't convert into jungle until _after_ they crossed the river . . .

His breath caught. _The river_!

"How are we going to get across the river?" Wally blurted. "Coming in, Conner had jumped over it while I carried Rob across . . ."

Conner frowned. "I hadn't thought about that."

"We need to stay focused. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Robin told them.

"Yeah, see, that's the problem, Rob. There _is_ no bridge to cross." Wally’s voice was beginning to edge toward hysteria. The river was still a five-hour hike from their location. Robin's symptoms would be kicking in by then.

 _My best friend is going to die and it’s all my fault_!

Stumbling to a halt, Kid forced Conner to stop. Robin continued ahead a few more steps before swinging back around, his frustration evident in his expression.

"What are you doing, Wally? We need to keep going." Robin’s voice cracked.

Shaking his head, Wally waved them on. "No, _you_ need to keep going. The two of you go on without me. I'm only slowing you down."

"What? Don't be stupid . . ." Robin snapped back.

"Look, Rob," Wally interrupted, "even without his powers, Conner's still stronger than the both of us but he's going to wear down sooner or later. You're lighter than I am. You don't weigh much at all. Carrying you, Conner can make better time. The two of you can make the river before nightfall, maybe even get across, find that plant."

"That’s crazy talk, Wally. We're not going to leave you behind." Robin stalked back to him. " _I'm_ not going to leave you behind."

"Rob, listen to me. Without that plant, you're going to _die_!" Wally grabbed his friend's shoulders. "We don't have other options. Once those symptoms start showing up, you won't be able to walk, let alone help search for the cure."

"He's right," Conner interrupted. "Wally’s right."

Robin gaped at their teammate, incredulous. "You can't seriously be agreeing with him,” he argued. “We have to stick together for as long as possible. Until my symptoms become bad enough to incapacitate me, _then_ we'll decide who, if anyone, gets left behind. In the meantime, I have hours left before I start to feel anything. Let's not waste them."

Conner shook his head. "No. What I meant is Wally's right in that I'm still strong.” He held up a hand as he tried to explain. "Not Superboy-strong with the collar on, but enough that I can carry Wally on my back and you in my arms if I have to."

“Okay, I get it,” Robin said, smiling at the offer. "Thanks for the offer, but you should probably save your strength for now, Conner. I’m good for a while yet."

"Fine. You know what’s best for you, but _you_ on the other hand . . ." Conner said as he crouched in front of Wally. "Climb on," he told the speedster. "We can pick up our pace and arrive at the river before sundown if I carry you."

"No. Rob said you need to save your strength," Wally objected. There wasn’t a lot of heart behind his refusal, though. It wasn’t like he had a death wish, after all.

"I'll rest when I have to, but I think we all agree that we need to make better time," Conner insisted. The clone remained in position, looking back at Wally over his shoulder. "Come on, West. You're the only one holding us up right now."

"Okay, okay. You guys win," he agreed, climbing onto Superboy’s back gingerly. He hissed when Conner stood and adjusted his hold. It was drowned out, however, when his stomach growled loudly. “Um, is anyone else hungry?"

The noise coaxed a chuckle from Robin. "Can you hold out a little longer, Kid Stomach? We can catch some fish when we get to the river. I don’t trust my memory about what is or isn't poisonous out here. The less of us who are poisoned, the better."

Wally groaned, laying his head on Conner's shoulder in mock despair. While he didn't have to eat right now, he would soon. His damned speedster metabolism was bad enough, but combined with his injury, his need for calories was going to make this journey uncomfortable to say the least.

* * *

Five hours later, Robin struggled to swallow, but there was no saliva left for the feat. Even catching the rainwater that filtered down to them through the trees wasn’t helping to alleviate his thirst. It wasn't like water was in short supply. This was the rainforest; the heaven’s opened up several times a day. The irony of this wasn’t lost on him. While he might be soaking wet on the outside, he continued to feel like a desert on the inside.

Of course, dry mouth was one of the first symptoms of belladonna poisoning that manifested. Robin was aware of how much time had passed and how much he had left. Knowing his friends worried about him, Robin decided to keep his complaints to himself for now. Scaring them with updates of his condition wouldn’t do anything to change the situation.

He thought he could hear the sound of the river now. They were close. Yesterday, they had arrived at the compound just a few short hours after crossing the river. Returning, however, had taken most of the day. The light had shifted noticeably as they had walked, and dusk would soon be falling. Relatively dark beneath the thick canopy overhead, shafts of sunlight managing to find its way to the forest floor fell around them like tiny spotlights. Dust motes and insects caught the light as they flitted through the beams, looking to Robin like tiny fairies dancing through the air.

The stray thought made Robin blink and shake his head.

 _Fairies_? _Holy hallucinations, Batman_ . _. ._ Time to get his head back in the game. _Focus, damn it_! _Reaching the other side of the river is my only hope_. 

If the jaborandi plant were to be found anywhere, it would be somewhere in the depths of the jungle beyond. He tried not to let that thought overwhelm him.

Thankfully, it started raining again. Water fell from the canopy above in thin streams. Pausing, Robin opened his mouth, letting the rainwater fill it, and while it enabled him to swallow, it did nothing to relieve his desperate thirst. He drank greedily for several minutes before he caught and held it in his mouth, not swallow this time in an effort to provide some small measure of relief.

They needed to take advantage of the rainfall when it came. Although they’d arrive at the river soon, without water purification tablets, Robin didn't trust drinking from it. Last thing any of them needed now was a bout of dysentery. Water from the sky remained their safest course of action. Coming through the vegetation as it did was still risky, but not the guaranteed trouble groundwater would be.

His water break had cost him. The distance between him and his friends had gone from a few feet to a few dozen yards and growing as neither had realized Robin had stopped. Conner, he noted, was holding up admirably despite the collar. The clone’s stamina meant they had only stopped to rest whenever Robin had needed it; something that was happening more often with every passing hour.

He was going to lose sight of them if he didn’t pick up his pace. He had every intention of catching up to his friends when Robin suddenly found himself falling. Barely avoiding a faceplant, he landed on his hands and knees instead. Head spinning and heart pounding, Robin struggled to catch his breath.

 _Tired_. He was just so tired. _Remind me again why I’m doing this_ . . . The thought filtered through the mountain of cotton wrapped around his brain.

He thought he heard someone yelling in the distance. It sounded far away. His curiosity wasn’t as great as gravity at the moment, so he concentrated on locating his equilibrium so he could stand up – in another minute or two . . . or three.

Then Conner was there, kneeling beside him, helping him to sit.

Robin stared at him in confusion. Where had he come from? He and Wally had been so far ahead of him just a second ago – almost out of sight.

 _How did they get to me so fast_? Beyond Conner, Wally sat on the ground nearby, his eyes were huge, and both wore expressions of concern. _Oh, great_. _Did I black out_? God, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

"Robin? Can you hear me?" Conner was asking him. “Are you all right?”

Why did he get the feeling this wasn't the first time Conner had asked him that?

"Yeah,” he mumbled. “Yeah, I'm fine." He tried to summon what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Just tripped over a root or something."

“What root?”

Glancing behind him, Robin sighed. _Crap_ . . . Not a root or a pebble was in sight. They were sitting in what must have been the first smooth place they’d found since the hike had begun. Apparently, Robin had just tripped over his own feet.

"It's happening, isn't it?" Wally asked softly. "You're starting to experience the symptoms, aren’t you?"

It was a rhetorical question. It didn’t require an answer. They all knew it. His friends gazed at him anxiously as if hoping he would deny it. He didn’t; he couldn’t, but he wasn’t dead yet and he didn’t appreciate them looking at him like they expected him to keel over any second.

"Your face is kind of red," Conner noted. "We can take another break."

He wasn’t sure how long he had been there on his hands and knees. While he wanted nothing more than to sit there for another hour, twilight was fast approaching, and the river still loomed ahead. Robin could take a break once they reached it, while they were figuring out how to cross it.

"No," he muttered. "No, I can make it." But when he tried to rise, the ground seemed to shift under him, and Robin fell onto one of his knees as Conner caught his arm. “I’m okay. I don’t need help,” he said, but Conner held his arm anyway, helping him onto his feet.

"You're tired," Conner told him flatly. "I can carry you the rest of the way to the river. It’s just ahead."

"No." Stubbornly, he waved him away. "Wally needs you more. Once we cross the river, we can find Wally a crutch and then . . ." Robin seemed to sag at that point. Lowering his head, he loathed to admit it. "Then, you can help me if you want."

"This isn’t an either/or kind of thing, you know. The river is close enough that I can carry the both of you without any trouble," Conner told him as he reached for the smaller boy.

Robin leapt backward, shoving the clone away in a surprisingly deft move. It said something about the inhibitor collar’s ability when that simple move caused Conner to stumble back.

"I _said_ I’m fine! I told you I can handle it," Robin snapped in an unusual burst of temper. "I'm not dead yet. Go help Wally."

* * *

Startled by Robin’s vehemence Conner looked to Wally for what he should do. The speedster gave a slight shake of his head and waved Superboy over.

“I don’t get it. I just wanted to help. He obviously needs it.”

"Look, don't take it personal," Wally told him softly so that Robin wouldn’t overhear and take offense. "Aggression is one of the symptoms of the poison I can remember reading about. Rob will likely only become more irritable as we go along."

“ _More_ irritable?” He watched Robin’s back as the boy trudged onward towards their destination.

Wally sighed. “Maybe even more irritable than you.”

“Great. Just what we need,” he snarked, “another me.”

“He can’t help it, Conner.”

Superboy blew out his breath, nodding. “I know. I just hate this. If it weren’t for this blasted collar . . .”

“You heard what Rob said. No more ‘what if’s’.” Wally reminded him. “We’re both worried about him. We both want to help, but it won’t be long before he’ll have no choice but to accept it. Until then . . .”

“Until then,” Conner finished the sentence for him, “we’ll just have to learn how to deal with an irritable bird.”

“Hey! Are you guys coming?” Robin yelled back at them. “It’ll be dark soon and we still have to set up camp for the night.”

Conner snorted. “Make that a _bossy_ , irritable bird,” he remarked, but there was no heat in it.

Helping Wally onto his back, Conner took off toward the river once more, this time jogging. They were only a little more than a hundred yards away. He would set Wally down and go back for Robin. Even if the smaller boy continued to refuse his help, Conner could still walk beside him to supply a steady arm should he need it.

Through the course of the day, each time Conner stood up with Kid Flash on his back, he noticed the speedster would feel a little heavier than he had the time before. At the moment, he was feeling a burning ache in his leg and back muscles. He had heard of it. They called it muscle fatigue. The knowledge of this particular human condition had been implanted in his mind during his Cadmus education, and it was something he had occasionally heard his teammates complain about. The sensation was wholly new experience for him and decidedly unpleasant.

Although he didn't like it, Conner _was_ coming to appreciate the physical challenges his teammates had to deal with in order to do their job. That they managed to soldier on despite their exhaustion and pain was impressive. That Robin could walk for hours almost entirely without complaint while his body battled a substance meant to kill him was even more so.

His estimation of the team’s youngest member had grown exponentially over the course of this botched mission. And he was determined that if Robin could do all of this, so too then could Superboy – inhibitor collar or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REACTIONS?  
> The first symptoms begin to manifest . . . 
> 
> -Dry mouth; hot, dry, red skin; urine retention - Belladonna shuts down the production of fluid in your body. You don't make sweat, tears, saliva, urine.
> 
> -Hallucinations brought on by dehydration. - Heh, told you this could be fun. ;D


	3. And So It Begins . . .

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the team rests by the river, Robin's symptoms from the poison begin to show themselves . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Warnings . . .

They had to rest and eat. This wasn't a choice.

Both Wally and Conner both wanted to search for a crossing immediately, Robin pointed out Wally's need to get more calories in his hyper-system or he could become dangerously weak. The fact that Conner carried him was the only reason the speedster hadn't collapsed thus far.

If that was the downside, the upside was that Wally still had his superspeed. KF theorized that the only reason that Ivy hadn’t slapped an inhibitor collar on him like she had Superboy was that she had believed KF’s broken foot rendered him powerless. But Wally could control the speed of his entire body and his hands worked just fine. As Conner brought him saplings, Wally used a sharp rock to whittle the ends, shaping them into crude spears within seconds.

"Collect the shavings," Robin ordered. "They'll make good kindling for a fire."

The Boy Wonder wanted to help while he still could. Lacking his usual grace, Robin stumbled to the river's edge with Conner, determined to spear his own fish for dinner. Observing him closely, Conner frowned in concern when the younger boy missed his target several times.

"Are you okay?"

Waving off his question, Robin rubbed at his eyes. "Just tired. It was a long hike here. You don't need to worry about me just yet."

But it was hard not to worry. He and Wally had been watching their normally graceful teammate grow consistently clumsier in the last hour, and Robin's aim, which had always been freakishly accurate, appeared to be missing. Determined not to be a hindrance, Rob continued to try spearing fish in the shallow area along the bank with no success. When he stepped out into the deeper water, Conner pulled him back.

"Let go!" Robin snapped, frustration adding to his unusual irritability.

"The current is too swift," Conner warned him. Holding onto the boy's arm, he ignored the glare sent his way. "You could be swept away."

"I won't," Rob denied, jerking his arm free.

Conner switched his grip to the boy's cape. "If you do," he insisted, "Wally and I might not be able to . . .” He looked at the rapid current just a few feet away. “I don't know if I can . . ."

He could feel the pull of it from where he stood and, for the first time, Conner was scared he wouldn’t be able to fight his way through it. "Look, I don't want to take the chance," he said, tugging at the collar around his neck. "Not with this thing stealing my powers away.

Scowling, Rob reluctantly nodded his head. "Okay, fine," he said with a heavy sigh. " You're right. I know you're right."

Despite the boy’s agreement, Conner refused to let go of him until he moved back toward the shore.

Although, to Rob's credit, he didn't give up until he speared a fish. Holding up his prize, he crowed triumphantly. "Finally! I managed to aim for the fish that was real that time."

"You're seeing double?" Conner asked him as he tossed his own fish onto the shore.

"Yeah." Robin shrugged one shoulder, smiling tiredly at the clone. "But, on the bright side, I won't be lonely in this crowd."

"Why don't you take the fish back to Wally," Conner suggested. He disliked seeing clues of the poison's progression. "He's got the fire going now. He can scale them as I finish up here."

* * *

In Wally's hands, rubbing two sticks together with lightning-fast friction did the job as easily as sparking a flint. The fire was integral to their survival. It would allow them to get dry, cook their fish and, hopefully, ward off dangerous predators. As Wally and Robin cooked and deboned the rest of the fish, Conner gathered foliage to build a makeshift roof over the top of some massive tree roots, creating for them a couple of cozy compartments. Only two were needed as they agreed someone should remain on guard throughout the night.

"I still think we should try to cross tonight," Wally insisted as the trio sat around the fire.

Robin shook his head, confused as his attention wandered in and out of the conversation. "Cross? Cross what? What are we talking about?"

Struggling to keep his face neutral, Wally explained what he and Conner had been discussing for the last twenty minutes. "The river, Rob. Remember? We need to cross the river in order to find the jaborandi plant for you."

Robin frowned. "Jabor . . .?"

"-randi. Poison Ivy said it was the cure for the poison she gave you," Wally choked out, but Robin's gaze had already turned inward, leaving him and Conner alone again.

Their friend's attention span was becoming increasingly intermittent. No longer would they be able to rely of the wealth of knowledge and skill that Batman had instilled in the younger boy.

He glanced over at Conner. "I suddenly wish I would have agreed to have joined the Boy Scouts when Uncle Barry had suggested it."

"Why's that?"

"The Boy Scouts? Their motto is 'be prepared'." Wally told him.

"Sounds like Batman's motto," the clone commented. "Do you think Batman was one of those . . . What did you call them? Scouts?"

Wally snorted. "Batman, a Boy Scout? Not hardly. The Scouts could have learned a thing or two from the Bat, though. The guy seriously gives new meaning to the word 'prepare'."

"Batman? Is he here?" Robin was back, eagerly looking around for his mentor.

Conner glanced at him, but Wally shook his head, shrugging. He didn't need to see Robin's eyes to know that they would be dilated. His friend's disorientation was becoming more pronounced with each passing hour. Already the boy’s irritation with them had him snapping at every perceived mistake or slight, even going so far as to throw a rock at Wally's head when his temper flared. Wally didn’t bother trying to dodge it as Rob's normally perfect aim had been off by more than a foot.

"No, Rob," Wally answered him gently. "Batman's not here."

"He's coming, though," Robin stated firmly.

"Yeah Rob, he's coming."

It was in a brief moment of clarity that Robin had warned them about the hallucinations. "One of the symptoms of belladonna poisoning is seeing and hearing things that aren't really there."

This had surprised Conner. "Hallucinations?"

His education at Cadmus interrupted, Superboy felt that this was something he would have eventually learned. But he hated this helpless feeling that came from his ignorance of a particular subject.

"Look, just - Just don't repeat anything you might hear me say, okay?" Robin begged them. "I may not be able to control what comes out. Much of it won’t make a lot of sense, but some things . . . They probably shouldn't be repeated to anyone."

The two older teens had agreed, but Robin seemed to need something more from them.

" _Promise me_ , you won’t tell," he whispered, intent on their answers. "Promise you'll keep my secrets?"

"Of course, dude," Wally had been quick to assure him. "You don't even have to ask."

“I won’t tell,” Conner swore when Robin refused to be satisfied with a simple nod of his head.

Without Rob to talk with, the conversation grew stilted before finally falling off into silence. Conner wasn’t a talker and Wally gave up after a while.

“You keep watching him,” Conner eventually spoke up, leaning in to whisper to Wally. “What’s going on? I know he’s getting worse, but I thought he had more time.”

“He does. Rob said he should be good for another twenty-two hours, at least.”

“Do you think he was telling us the truth about that?”

Wally frowned at him. “Robin wouldn’t lie to me – us, I mean.”

“He does though. When he doesn’t want to worry us, he sometimes lies about it,” Conner told him. “I’ve caught him doing it before.”

“What? When?” Wally demanded. “Today?”

Shrugging, he admitted. “I can’t tell today. His heartrate has been faster than usual all day, whether because of stress, exertion, or the poison, I’m not sure. I just know that he will occasionally lie about stuff.”

Wally shook his head. “Not when it matters. You’re probably talking about things related to his secret identity, but Batman makes him lie about that.”

Conner glanced over at the boy in question. “Fine. You know him better than I do. So why are you watching him now If you’re not afraid he’s going to – you know?”

Because Robin was staring off into the darkness below the rainforest canopy with such intensity, it was creeping Wally out. He was almost expecting something to leap out from behind the trees at them.

“I’m trying to figure out what he’s seeing,” he admitted.

Robin turned towards them suddenly, making Wally jump. “Sh! Will you guys be quiet?”

“Why? What’s up?”

“You guys are going to scare them off.”

“What?” KF nearly jumped off the rock he sat on. “Scare who off?” He searched the shadows for danger.

“I don’t see anything,” Conner said as he searched the area around them.

“They’re right there,” Robin insisted, waving his arm at nothing.

“What exactly are you seeing, Rob?” Wally asked slowly, looking at his friend instead of the place he was indicating.

He leaned in closer, whispering. “Fairies!”

Conner gaped at him. “Fairies? There’s nothing there. Is this one of those hallucinations you were talking about?”

“No,” Robin stressed. “They’re real. They live here in the jungle. I never knew . . .”

“I think he’s talking about the lightning bugs, Conner. Fireflies! He thinks they’re fairies,” Wally grinned suddenly. “Oh my God, if we get out of this alive, I’m going to have so much fun teasing him about this.”

One of the insects landed on Robin’s glove and his friends spent the next twenty minutes listening to him chat with a firefly fairy named Edith who was looking for her husband, Ron, whom she thought was stepping out on her with another fairy named Sheila whose boyfriend, Glenn was wanting to hang Ron up by his nuts.

Conner leaned over to Wally, whispering, “I didn’t know fireflies had nuts, did you?”

“Sh!” Wally shushed him. “They’re getting to the good part. This is better than this season’s run of Neglected Housewives.”

Surprised, Conner stared at him. “You actually watch that show?”

“Hey! Don’t judge me,” Wally said, waving a hand at him. “Now, be quiet. I want to know if Edith will be able to find Ron before Glenn does.”

* * *

With darkness falling upon them, Wally knew they were going nowhere until dawn, but the interior of the log was burning well. It would be enough to last them until morning, providing some much-needed warmth against the damp night. With a little coaxing, Wally finally convinced Robin to crawl into the makeshift shelter and out from under the wet, dripping branches.

He volunteered for first watch.

Conner frowned. "You go. I don't need to sleep."

"Maybe under normal circumstances, dude, but you _look_ exhausted," the speedster pointed out. It was the truth. There were shadows under the clone's eyes that had never been there before. "I slept part of the way here while you were carrying me. I'll be good for a while."

Conner narrowed his eyes, trying to judge the other teen's condition. "You need to rest to heal," he pointed out.

Wally waved a hand at his foot laid out in front of him. "It's not like I'm going anywhere soon. I can rest well enough here by the fire."

"You won't fall asleep before you can wake me? I doubt we have anything to worry about with Ivy, but there are still too many dangerous creatures out here to leave ourselves unguarded."

Wally glanced over his shoulder at Robin holding a drowsy conversation with a tree frog. "If we’re being honest here, I doubt I'll get any sleep tonight," he admitted quietly.

Taking Wally at his word, Conner crawled into Robin's side of the shelter to check on him. Sitting down beside their afflicted teammate, he asked, "You _do_ realize that frogs don't talk, right?"

Snuggled into the corner, Robin looked over at the clone, tilting his head as he thought about the question. "Most frogs don't," Rob admitted seriously, "but _this_ one does."

That was said with such confidence that Conner almost believed the young teenager for a moment. He eyed the bright blue amphibian curiously.

"So, what's he saying?"

Robin rolled his head back towards the colorful, little creature, thankfully content to not touch its poisonous skin. "His name is George," he said, his words slurring from his exhaustion.

"He has a name?"

Robin scoffed. "Of course, he has a name. You have a name. I have a name . . . You should say hi."

Conner hesitated.

"Don't be rude," the young teen urged.

"Okay," Conner shrugged, going with it. "Hi George."

Satisfied with the introductions, Robin smiled. "George says we shouldn't worry. He says that Batman is looking for us."

"He said all that, huh? How does he know?"

"Karla told him . . ."

"Karla? Who's Karla?" Conner frowned, glancing around for another frog. As far as he could tell, it was just the three of them in here.

Snickering, Robin shushed him. "Karla is a faaaiiiry," the boy whispered, drawing the word out dramatically.

"You're still seeing fairies?"

"They're everywhere," Rob said, waving a hand around broadly.

Conner caught the boy's wrist before Robin could smack him in the face. "Whoa! Take it easy. Is Karla still around.” He didn’t see any fireflies buzzing about in the shelter.

“George ate her.” Rob frowned at the frog. “That wasn’t very nice of you, George. You should be ashamed.”

George didn’t look especially repentant to Conner. “I don't suppose Karla told George where we can find a jaborandi plant?"

"Mmhmm."

"Mmhmm? You mean, yes?" He gaped at the bright blue frog with renewed interest when younger boy nodded. "Where?"

"In the jungle," the boy told him around a yawn, “across the river.”

 _Well, it was worth a try_. Despite the dire circumstances, the clone snorted in amusement.

"Conner? I'm really thirsty . . ." the words trailing off as the boy finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

It was unfortunate that the rain had stopped. They had all agreed that it wasn’t safe to drink the river water. Hopefully, sleep would give younger boy some relief. Scooting closer, Conner tugged Robin's cape around him more securely to protect him from the bothersome mosquitos. The insects might not be able to bite Conner himself, but they certainly annoyed the clone when buzzing in his face and ears. Wally and Robin didn't have his dense skin to protect them, however. Before he could crawl back out and into his own space between the roots, Robin curled up against Conner's chest.

"Thanks, Bruce," the younger boy whispered as he snuggled closer.

Raising both brows in surprise, Conner knew without asking that ' _Bruce_ ' was one of Robin's secrets. He couldn't help but wonder briefly who Bruce was to the boy. 

_His father_?

Rather than disturbing Robin by disentangling them, Conner instead threw a protective arm around his teammate's shoulders and forced himself to relax. It cost him nothing to allow the boy to sleep against him. At least, Robin was no longer throwing rocks. He closed his eyes, but no matter the tired muscles and exhaustion that Wally had accused him of harboring, sleep continued to elude the clone as he worried over how he could save his teammates. 

* * *

A few hours later Conner was easing away from the sleeping boy. 

_It must be near midnight by now_ , he thought.

Muttering something unintelligible, Robin shifted restlessly, but didn't wake up as Conner crawled out of their makeshift shelter. The clone took a seat around the fire across from Wally.

"Do you need a break?" he asked the speedster.

"No, I’m good. Were you able to sleep at all?" Wally asked, poking a stick at the burning log. The fire was low, but still putting off a good amount of heat, enough to absorb some of the sweat caused by humidity. Licking his lips, Wally could taste the salty residue that was left behind.

"I think I might have dozed a bit," Conner admitted. "You know, I don't think that Poison Ivy adjusted my collar to dampen my super hearing."

This brought Wally's head around, and his hand reached for his spear. "Why do you say that? Do you hear something suspicious? Beyond the jungle noises, I mean."

Conner frowned. "No, not that. I meant that I can still hear Robin's heartbeat from over here."

"Oh that." Wally's face fell. "Sorry, but that isn't super hearing, buddy," he told him worriedly. "I can hear it, too."

"What?!" Conner gaped at him.

Wally sat even further away, beyond Conner. Kid Flash's abilities certainly didn't include super hearing. Spinning around, the clone stared at Robin.

"B-But that can't be right," he gasped. "He's not going to . . . I mean, it’s not going to hurt him, is it? Will he be alright, do you think?"

"It's one of the more advanced symptoms of belladonna poisoning," Wally informed him. "He's getting worse."

"But he's not . . ." Conner choked on the word, " . . . right now, is he?"

"Not right now, no, but we need that plant, Conner," Wally told him, "and we're going to need it soon. I doubt that Robin will be able to last much longer. Maybe another fifteen hours, eighteen tops, if we're lucky."

The sky would be light enough to start in about five hours. If they waited until dawn, it would only give them ten hours to find a way to cross the river before they could locate the plant. Even then, they would still need to figure out a way to somehow use it to save Robin's life.

Frowning at the tangled growth across the river, Conner knew that wading through that mess without super strength was going to take more time than they had.

 _Like trying to find a needle in a haystack_ , he thought unhappily. Fear for his friend knotting his gut, Conner jumped up.

Wally craned his neck. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to scout the area along the river, see if I can find a way across," Conner told him. "Ivy might have suppressed my strength, but she didn't bother to take away my super-vision."

"I don't understand." Wally waited for Superboy to clarify.

"I think she only took into consideration distance, heat, x-ray and infrared vision," Conner explained.

"You don't have heat or x-ray vision, and your infrared vision is sketchy at best," Wally remarked.

"True, although the infrared vision is improving the more often I use it. But Poison Ivy forgot something when she was calibrating the collar," Conner smiled for the first time since they’d been captured. "I can still see in the dark."

"You can? Why didn't you say anything before?"

"It was still light earlier," Conner shrugged. "I didn't realize it until now, after dark. I can see the jungle on the other side of the river."

"Then you _can_ do something now," Wally exclaimed excitedly. "So, we don't have to wait until sunrise to start searching for a way across."

"It's not much of a boon. I mean, I still don't have my super strength," he reminded him.

"Don't knock yourself, Conner. I'd bet you could still be able to give Aqualad a run for his money despite that inhibitor collar. You may not be able to stop a bullet right now but you're our best shot – maybe our only shot - of getting out of this alive."

Climbing carefully to his feet, Wally still favored his right foot, but the improvement was dramatic.

"You're getting better," Conner commented, pleased that something was finally going their way. "That's good."

"Eating helped. That and the fact that I haven't had to exert myself for hours, but I'm going to need more calories if I am to be of any use to you at all tomorrow," Wally said. A sharp twinge shot up his leg when he put weight on it, but the limb didn't give out. He grinned at the clone. "Still hurts, but I think that I can work with this."

"No, don't . . ." Robin cried out hoarsely, startling his teammates. He curled up tighter under his cape as his nightmares assaulted him. " _Batman_!"

Watching him struggle against his dreams, Robin’s teammates’ smiles disappeared with the reminder that time wasn't on their side.

"I've got the feeling he's going to be pretty out of it when he wakes up," Wally warned.

"But he _will_ wake up," Conner asked anxiously, "won't he?"

"Yeah, he's still got time," Wally told him. "We can still do this."

"It's just that . . . he's so small," Conner worried. "Robin doesn't seem small when he's flipping around all over the place but, I’ll admit, after watching him keep up with us yesterday, he's a lot tougher than I gave him credit for."

Wally agreed. "I know, right? How many times has Rob saved _us_? But this time, whether he makes it out of the jungle alive is going to be on us.”

Conner picked up one of the spears. "Since I can't seem to get my mind to shut down, I’m going to get a head start. Better keep that second spear handy until I get back.”

"Agreed.” Wally glanced over his shoulder as he checked on Robin again. "Whatever it takes to stay ahead of the poison."

"Yell if you need me. I'll try not to get out of range." Conner told him.

A lot of predators in the jungle were nocturnal. Hefting the spear in his hand, Superboy followed the river downstream.

* * *

As Superboy disappeared into the shadows, to Wally, the night seemed to become a little bit darker. He stood there for a time, listening to Robin twisting and turning behind him. Was the younger boy in the throes of a nightmare or was this delirium? The knot of fear in Wally's gut wound tighter with each new symptom that showed up.

With nothing left to do but wait for the sun, Wally decided to try comforting his best friend while he could.

* * *

Jogging along the bank, Conner searched for a shallow spot in the river, or a rope bridge, a downed tree – _Anything_ that would help them with the crossing. Although he had rested, with the inhibiter collar, he wasn't as fast as he should have been. Truth was that Conner felt nearly as tired now as he had been when they’d arrived at the river. Watching Robin deteriorate so quickly, however, provided him with the motivation to keep moving.

He _would_ save his teammates or die trying.

Trembling from exhaustion, the idea of 'dropping' would have never entered his mind before this experience. The reality of his current condition was never far from his thoughts, however; his body made sure of that. Guilt continued to eat at him that he had let the others down, making Conner push onward beyond the point his body demanded him to stop.

Searching the sky, he found no hint of sunrise yet and wondered how long he had been gone. In his desperation to find the means to cross, Conner had lost track of the distance he had covered. Worry that he’d come too far crept into his consciousness. If Wally needed him, would Conner hear his call for help?

He had just made the decision to turn back when he saw it up ahead of him.

A large tree, another fifty yards, was leaning out over the river at a steep thirty-degree angle, but it stretched three-quarters of the way across the water. Conner eyed the expanse left between the end of the farthest branch and the riverbank beyond. Several of those woody vines draped across the roiling waters, reaching the trunk of the tree. They were also entangled in the heavy jungle growth that covered the far bank.

Were the vines strong enough to hold them? There was only one way to find out. Conner was the heaviest of the three teens. If it could hold him, they could make it across the river here. If not . . . He refused to follow that line of thought; it had to work.

Reaching the fallen trunk, Conner climbed up. It didn't move under his weight. Moving further over the river, he bounced, testing it, but the tree neither swayed nor could he make its leaves rustle.

 _Seems sturdy enough_ , he thought.

The three of them should be able to scale it together without toppling the tree into the water. Was Kid Flash was healed enough to survive a fall into the swiftly moving river? He didn’t know but there was no doubt in Conner’s mind that, in his current condition, if Robin were to fall, he wouldn’t. The river would take the weakened boy for sure. Without the collar, Conner could hold his breath much longer than the average human, but his hybrid physiology still needed oxygen to survive. With the collar, the river might even be too much for him.

Conner was discovering he had a great many new limits now. Unwilling to risk his teammates' lives on the assumption that Ivy had underestimated his abilities, he preferred to avoid unnecessary dangers if he could help it. So, if he didn’t have to save Wally or Robin from drowning, all the better.

As he continued scaling the tree, Conner thought it was wide enough that Wally could easily crawl across it if his injury wouldn't support him. Robin, however, worried him.

Normally, the graceful young acrobat made the rest of the team appear bumbling in comparison but yesterday, Robin had been tripping over his own feet. Now, periods of delirium occurring more and more often, he worried that if Conner would need to carry him over the river on his back, the boy would retain his wits enough to hold on until they were across safely.

Going as far as he could, Conner tugged on the vines to test their strength. Satisfied, he smiled. The vines would hold them. With no time to search for a safer crossing, this was their best bet. He hopped lightly back onto the soft, sandy bank. This bit of luck had given Conner a surge of renewed energy.

Eager to share the good news, he took off back to camp at a run. The sun would be rising by the time he collected the others and returned. Their progress would slow as they entered the jungle but, they would finally be able to begin the search for the jaborandi plant in earnest. The odds of locating one plant in all that heavy growth were not in their favor, but failure was not an option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REACTIONS?
> 
> A/N:
> 
> Symptoms are beginning to show themselves and Robin’s hallucinations are worsening and lasting longer each time.
> 
> Delirium can present itself in a variety of ways. The victim can be totally out of it and unable to focus on a situation or conversation (spacing out) or is hyper-focused on something to the point that he's unaware of what is going on around him.
> 
> New symptom: Rapid and LOUD heartbeat. YES, this is a real thing with belladonna poisoning. You can hear the victim's heartbeat up to several feet away. The very idea of this freaks me out a bit.
> 
> Btw - "Neglected Housewives" is a rather obvious reference to the TV show Desperate Housewives.

**Author's Note:**

> REACTIONS? Reviews, reviews, review! ;D
> 
> Okay, so I bought a Writer's Guide to Poisons many years ago and have been dying (no pun intended) to use it in one of my stories, but never seemed to come up with a plot for it - Until now! This is a story I wrote for a writing contest whose theme was "A Failed Mission". With this in mind, I chose to use belladonna (also known as deadly nightshade in some parts of the world) in my plot for several reasons. 
> 
> One reason is because the symptoms are cool . . .  
> Alright, not so cool in real life, but definitely fun to write about in fiction.
> 
> Another reason is because of the symptoms it doesn't have . . .  
> Specifically, diarrhea - I so did not want to write about our boy having to cop a squat every 15 minutes behind a tree. I'm pretty sure you didn't want to read about it either.
> 
> Also, belladonna kills quickly, but not too quickly.  
> It's toxicity level is a 6 which is considered to be the highest on the toxicity chart that runs from a level 1 to a level 6. Without treatment, you will die.
> 
> Lastly is because I could fit the antidote into my plot.  
> Jaborandi is the name of a real plant found in the Brazilian jungles. It looks how it is described above. The antidote to belladonna is derived from the jaborandi's leaves. When refined, the jaborandi plant produces nearly the exact opposite symptoms of those of belladonna, neutralizing the poison. Of course, the cure, given by itself, is listed as a medical poison as well.
> 
> I'll explain more about belladonna poisoning as the story goes on.


End file.
